Dante smiled and entered his Bentley. He sparked the engine and pulled out of his lot before driving to the airport. Using the AI chip, he connected to the flight network and checked the various destinations.
He was pleased to see that there was one that would be departing to his choice destination in 4 hours: South Africa. The flight would take 19 hours and 45 minutes in total with one connecting flight.
Dante bought himself a first-class ticket and arrived at the airport to wait for the flight to go. There, he walked around aimlessly while checking various things to pass the time, and then had a light burger meal.
After that, he bought a footlong sub and then boarded his flight. The flight attendants gazed at his strange yet fashionable attire and flashed him smiles all the time, which he returned. One even approached his booth with her jacket off and leaned forward, asking if he required special service.
Dante was not surprised as first-class fliers knew that sometimes, the offer would be made. It was not complimentary but based on the discretion of the attendants themselves.
Dante rejected her gently and stated that he would be sleeping. She tactfully left him to his business and Dante sighed about the nature of life.
He eventually settled into his first-class seat on the first flight to South Africa, which would take two hours. Eventually, he got down at the connecting airport which was still within the state of America, and then boarded his second flight which was poised to last much longer.
During the long flight, Dante took advantage of the comfortable amenities and entertainment options available in first class. He watched movies, caught up on some web s, and even had a brief conversation with the passenger sitting next to him who happened to be a fellow tech enthusiast.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAs the flight progressed, Dante's thoughts turned to the purpose of his trip.
South Africa itself was not the target, it was just another transit location for him to reach his true destination. The flight was long, but Dante landed and exited from the Johannesburg Airport.
Seeing his fellow Africans walking up and down with purposeful steps, he couldn't help but feel emotional. Why did he feel like a lost child returning to his roots? But then again, he was a born America and grew up in its values, so he firmly considered himself a Murican through and through.
Dante was solicited by various taxis and Ubers but since he did not have any luggage, he opted to take an Uber to a nearby beach. This puzzled the driver as he thought Dante was returning home from abroad, but then seeing his young face and 'rich' clothes, he smiled.
It seemed that this was a party-loving young master. That was fine because it meant he might give him a hefty tip if he drove well, which he did. He felt his choice was right when Dante directly paid him in dollars instead of rand, allowing him to make a bit extra on the currency exchange.
Dante got down at the beach and glanced around. It was nighttime, so there were not too many people near the outskirts, but the entrance was packed with youths who were here to have a great time.
He ignored them and walked to the darker parts of the beach where there was not a single soul before tapping his chest. Immediately nanites spread out from his chest and covered his whole body, enveloping him in his exosuit.
Dante also made sure to hide his face as he jumped into the nearby beach water. He swam forward slowly until he was completely submerged before commanding his AI chip to activate the exosuit's thrusters.
Immediately, Dante was like a sonic missile fired underwater. An explosion happened above the surface that caused water to fly up which launched him almost 100 meters forward in an instant, which increased every subsequent second.
This speed was enough to rip the flesh of any being, but the exosuit was barely moved. Dante quickly tore through the water and headed towards his target, one of the obscure islands to the southern end of the Indian Ocean, the McDonald's Island.
McDonald's Island was a remote and relatively unknown place, located in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. Its isolation and lack of human presence made it an ideal destination for Dante to conduct his operations discreetly.
As he reached the island's shores, he deactivated the thrusters and landed gracefully on the sandy beach. The nanites in his exosuit swiftly retracted, blending seamlessly with the fabric of his clothing. The AI chip concealed within his mind was always at the ready, constantly providing him with valuable data and analysis.
Dante took a moment to observe his surroundings. The island appeared untouched by human civilization, with a barren land that was sandy near the beach and full of ice near the center. It was an empty and valueless island that no one cared about.
It was perfect for his purposes.
Dante disappeared from the home universe and appeared on Planet Etonia, specifically in his 'house' there in the elite estate. He had made sure that the place was permanently reserved for him, so he didn't have to worry about seeing anyone there when he returned.
Now here, Dante bought some high-tech tools for excavation and brought them back to his quantum marker on McDonald's Island then left them there. He could only take small tools that could fit within his hand and did not weigh too much.
This was even an upgrade compared to when he was at the F rank in his superpower and could only take the clothes on his back to and fro. Once he got what he needed, he quickly began to work on carving out a small cave within the side of the island, a place he would work out of.
Dante's eyes gleamed after he spent around 20 hours working like a machine, hard and fast thanks to his superior SDI. He finally made a 200 cubic meter chamber in the ice that was sturdy.
Taking in his handiwork, he sighed and then teleported to his apartment. He gently picked up the working mini quantum computer as well as the mini nuclear power device and then teleported back to the cave.
He carved a small desk out of ice from the side of the wall and placed the two down on it. It was best that the two remained here to work rather than in his apartment. As for things like the environment and signal coverage, hah.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmTheoretically, this quantum computer could connect to someone on a whole different planet, how could it possibly have any difficulties dealing with some small planetary digital network?
Dante's eyes flashed. After going through all this, his goal should be quite obvious.
He was going to construct his first high-tech base here!
It was unavoidable that he would have to build a base, not just for his experiments, but also to build his forces. Constructing spaceships, synthetic humanoids, weapons, and more himself could be carried out as long as he sourced the tools from the Eternal Universe and brought them here.
After all, Dante had no plans to rely on humans as his forces to take over the universe. In fact, not even the humans of the Eternal Universe did either. They simply did not have enough manpower for that, so they naturally relied on synthetic humans and cyborgs to fight.
To Dante, the humans of Earth were basically the same as that deadbeat sibling in the family. They have no real value to you and are basically a hindrance, but because of affiliation and affection, you simply can't bear to hurt them or get rid of them.
As for why Dante came all the way out here, it was only logical. He wasn't going to be like those main characters in other books he read while on the plane who would buy an abandoned warehouse in the urban city and develop such things.
That was just dumb and shortsighted.
After all, no matter how you strung it, you would be susceptible to the rules of the territory you set yourself up in. Since Dante especially did not want to use force, it was better to just find a remote place with no clear jurisdiction to develop himself.
Later, when he had a fleet of planetary-level battleships, an army of androids trained for war who wielded the best kinetic and energy weapons, as well as technology that could enhance the human body and extend life, who in the world would dare to point at him and mention rubbish like 'rules' and 'jurisdiction'?
With that in mind, Dante dove back into the water and used his jet thrusters to return to the shore of South Africa. While he could simply return to America, if someone later investigated and found that he took a flight to South Africa yet did not take one back, he would have difficulty explaining himself.